China’s 13th Five Year Plan and the Environment

In March 2016, the Chinese National People’s Congress (NPC) will be meeting to approve the 13th Five Year Plan (13th FYP), a set of economic targets and goals that will guide the development of the Chinese economy from 2016 to 2020. The content of China’s Five Year Plan illustrates government priorities and will set the direction of Chinese economic policy. It will direct vast numbers of programs and massive amounts of budgetary resources. As such, the 13th FYP holds significant implications as well for China’s environmental policy and can tell us what to expect from China on issues such as energy sector reform and climate change for the next five years.